In the U.S., credit unions have a clear organizational structure. All credit unions belong to one or the other parent credit union (there are 35 of them in the U.S.). To date, credit unions - virtually the only form of financial institution where people can quickly and without any problems get a relatively inexpensive cash loan. Credit unions encourage savings of citizens, setting compensation payments (interest) on savings and provide from these savings loans to their members. Credit unions appeared in England in the 19th century. In 1844 a group of workers from Rochdale established the first cooperative. Credit unions, like today's credit unions, emerged in the 19th century in Germany as a result of crop failure and famine. The specifics of credit unions and, in some sense, their uniqueness lies in the fact that they work not for profit and do not appropriate profit.